Ball-shooter.



J. STRAKA.

. BALL SHOOTER.l

APPucAnou man nEc.22, i916.

^ Patented oct. 30, 1917.

" Joran s'iaAKA, or Caicedo,Y ILLINOIS.

BALL-SHOOTER.

Tov all-whom t may concern.: f

lBeit known that I,.JoI-1N STBAKA, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-fHungary, residing. at Chicago, in. thecounty of Cook and-iState of Illinois, haveinvented certain newV and useful. Improvements: in Ball- Shooters, .of'which the followingfisv a speci,-

iication..

This. invention relates ball shooters.. The principalk object is' to provide-.a device that may be'used asa bil-` liard orpool cueory as. a toy marble shooter.- A1 further- Objectis. to provide a shooter of this typeinwhich the force or. impact ofthe shot is manual'lycontrolled by'a skilled'ror practised. operator. A further object iszthe provision, ofmechanical means withinl the shooter for regulating in. ak measure, the force orimpact ofthe shot.y 1A. further object`V is to provide af vshooterwith 'hammer mechanism whereby a blow .may be struck to drive the, ball without .movingtl'ie shooter after itv has. beenv properly positioned for di-` recting avshot. A furthervobject isto pro.- vide .a device of this'class that is simplein construction, efficient in operation and cheap to manufacture.

With kthe foregoing andk other objects in view the invention consistsin the combina,- tion.- and arrangement'. of parts to be hereinafterl fully described; in. this specification, pointed: out in theiclaims andillustrated in the accompanying drawing which formsa part; of the specification andin wliichr.- .f

Figure 1 is asectional in side elevation.. 'Y Y .v

Fig. 2 isa top. plan view ofFigal.Vv f f Fig.u 3v is a fragmentary sectional; view with the jmovable partsl in.. an alteredy posi; tion.` f f Fig. lfis, acfragrnentary view1of a slightly y modified formof the device.

lLike reference characters denote correspendingpartsthroughout.

The. reference numeral 1 denotes: the barrel of the shooter which is formecl'rwitha;

hollow extension 2v that serves as. a; bearing forthetrigger and connections. fReferring.

which terminates in the linger piece 4e andA that;l isifulcrumedupon the pivot pin;Y 5i car-` to improvements inl view of the device I specieatpion of Lettersfratent; 'Patentedct 30,1917. Application filed December 225 19.16'. Serial No. 138,375.

ried bythe said: extensionj. A.pawl:6.fnl crumed upona pin-i7 carried byv the trigger has oneQend. in engagement; with asleafisprng 8- terminally securedby rivet 9 to saidatrig gerthe workingfend of; said pawlfbeingsnor; mally in engagement with-oneoflthe teeth of the ratchetl whichisipivotallydisposed upon thel said` pin 5, rIlhe ratchet--l0fis formed with the heel Il n adapted: for;` engage-r ment with a shoulder 12 formedfontheextensionV 2 forV the purposeofy limiting the movement of they said ratchet in'. one direc,-l tion. 'The ratchet l0,y further;l is` OIfmQd with, an integral arm-1 18; which; is connected by thelink llwththe Iplunger rod 175 which extends a considerable distance beyond one endofithe barrel 1 and is,provided throughl out. the. greater part of its-length with the tapered tubular lcasing 11.6. whichA is; fast, theretol and. isl formed at itsflarger or inner end with the head 17 covered bv the'metal cap 18,against whiclrone end ofthe spiral @Xpan Sion spring. 19tY abutswhich. :Spring en: circles the plunger rod; and alsojabuts all. annular stop ringkr 2 0 disposed lkthebulged. portion. ofthe said;y barrel.

and move the arm 13, toward. the closed end 22 of the casing thus pullingt'he rplunger rod 14C and tube 16 into the-barrelfand compress, ingtlie spring 1.9.Av Ata certain pointinthe movementv of the trigger the kpawlf,willi-'conf tact with4 a Vlug 23X of extension- 2'; and; such contactl vwill be made known tothe operator by theiresistance against the further..` downs wardfmovement of saidi trigger-.-ffEurthen pressure upon they trigger wilhfhowever; flatten the spring 8- .against the trigger and at the. Sametime disengagetheppawl from the-.teeth of. the ratchet thus re-leasing said ratchet:A and permitting thesudden exo-pane sion `of@ spring 19; with a` resultantf `O lliWtI-d; thrust of the plungenrod for,l Contact, 0r'. shooting engagement with, the; ball or] marble into. iinlgl'nediatel ,f pnoximit'y with which. thel free' end of the c. plunger; nod has; been placedprevious to f, movement of; theftriggen.- The movement off thespringintoexpanded position will automatically reset the pawl and ratchet andtrigger yfor the next shot. I prefer lto form the ratchet with two or moreteeth any one of which may be engaged with the pawl. `The nearer the tooth engaged, by the ratchet, to the heel 11 the greater compression to which-'the spring `19 will be subjected by movement of the trigger and the more forcible the shot.

In Fig. 4 a lever 3 having a nger piece 4 is ysubstituted for the lever?) and the arm' 13 is connected by pivot pin y13 with the dog 14 having a tooth 15 for engagement with, anyone of the teeth of a ratchet 16 carried at one end of the/plunger rodf14. The dog 14 is formed vwith a heel 17 capable of Vengagement withL a shoulder 18 formed upon the inner kwall of thev closed end 22 of thel barrel. In this construction the trigger 3 is manually pressed toward thebarrel until it engages with a shoulder 19 of the extension 2. Just previous to this time the `heel 17 will abut the shoulder` 18 and previous to the engagement of the lever 3 with shoulder 19 the shoulder 18 will have imoved the dog 14 upon the pin 13 and caused said dogvto ride out ofthe teeth of the ratchet 16 thus permitting the yexpansion of spring 19 and consequent movement of the plunger rod. The trigger is now moved manually to normal position, shown in full lines, when the toothed end of the dog will gravitate into engagement with therack 16 again and the shooter is reset.

J ust as the trigger 3 engages with the lug i 23, or as the heel 17 engages with the shoulder 18, the operator prepares to control by hand the severity'oi:l the shot. By manual pressure upon the tube 16 he may nullify a portion of theaction `of the spring 19 and by practice he may learn to deliver a hard .shot ora relatively weak shot as he may desire andy consequently a game of pool, billiards or marbles played with the shooter will depend greatly upon the skill and practice of the operator.

l/Vhat is claimed is `1. Inv a ball shooter comprising a barrel, an `extension `formed upon said barrel, a ratchet -ulcrumed within said extension,

1 meanscarried by said ratchet for engagement with ksaid extension for limiting the relative movement of saidratchet, a plunger partly disposed within said barrel, a connection between said Aplunger and ratchet, `a

- trigger fulcrume'd upon said extension, connection kbetween said trigger and the said ratchet, andan expansion spring within said barrel for yieldingly retaining said plunger in apredetermined position. l i

- 2. In a, `ball shooter comprising a barrel, an extension formed upon said barrel, a ratchet fulcrumed within said extension, means carried bysaid' ratchet fory engagementrwith said `extension for limiting the' latter` while said trigger moves toward said extension, and an expansion spring within said barrel'and connected to said plunger for yieldingly permitting the same to be drawn into said barrel during the joint movement of said trigger and ratchet, and for forcibly returning said plunger to normal position after the said joint movement is completed.

3. In a ball shooter comprising a barrel, an extension formed upon said barrel, a ratchet fulcrumed within said extension, means carried by said ratchet for engagement with said extension for limiting ythe relative movement of said ratchet, a plunger carried by said barrel and projected therebeyond, connection between said plunger and ratchet, a trigger fulcrumedupon. said extension for movement toward and away'from said extension, connection between said trigger and ratchet whereby movement of the former is transmitted to the latter while said trigger moves toward saidextension, a trip lug formed upon said extension for engagement withv said connection whereby the same' is disengaged from said ratchet, Va stop ring encircling said plunger within said barrel, a tapered tubularmember fast upon said plunger and spaced awayA from said stop ring and a spring encircling said plunger and abutting said stop ring and tubular member for yieldingly retaining the latter in a predetermined position.

4./ In a ball `shooter comprising a barrel, an 'extension formed upon said barrel, a ratchet fulcrumed within said extension, means carried by said ratchet for engagement with said extension whereby movement of said ratchet is limited, a plunger carried by said barrel and projected therebeyond, connection between said plunger and ratchet, a trigger fulcrumed upon said extension, means operatively connecting said trigger and ratchet during movement of said trigger in one direction, alug carried by said extension for engagement with said last an extension formed upon said barrel, a trigger'fulcrumed to said extension, a plunger carried by, said barrel, a ratchet carried by said plunger, ratchetengaging means operafV tively carried by said trigger, said means'in- 180 eiuding a heel, a shoulder formed on said ture inthe presence of tWo subscribing Witbarrei for tripping engagement with said nesses.

heel, and a spring Within said barrel and engaging said plunger for yeldingly retaining JOHN STRAKA' the same in a predetermined position. Witnesses:

In testimony that I claim the foregoing PAUL A. VIERSEN, as my own I have hereto aiixed my signa- GRACE THOMPSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ive cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of IPatents,y

Washington, D. c. Y 

